Cameron White hopes to use Northamptonshire’s Friends Life t20 quarter-final
against Durham at Wantage Road on Tuesday to remind the Australia selectors
of his talents.

The 29-year-old has played 129 internationals in all formats and is a former Australia Twenty20 captain but he has not represented his country since the World Twenty20 semi-final defeat by the West Indies in Colombo last October.

White still has international aspirations and one of the motivations behind his return to Northamptonshire for a second season of Twenty20 cricket was the opportunity to impress the selectors during an Ashes summer.

“Part of the reason behind coming back was to keep playing and to keep scoring runs during an Ashes summer,” White said.

“I have still got the ambition to play for Australia in whatever format and playing here gives me the chance to score runs in county cricket and hope that the selectors take note.”

White will hope that Darren Lehmann, Australia’s new coach, finds time in the build-up to the fourth Test at Chester-le-Street to watch television coverage of Northamptonshire’s biggest match at Wantage Road since they beat Hampshire in the 2009 quarter-finals and reached Finals Day for the only time.

An appearance in the quarter-finals is an unexpected bonus for White as Northamptonshire were in disarray when he left Wantage Road after his initial stint 12 months ago.

David Capel had just been axed as head coach and Northamptonshire were the worst side in the country in white-ball cricket, managing just two wins in the Twenty20 and 40 overs competition all season.

Chief executive David Smith challenged Capel's replacement, David Ripley, to improve Northamptonshire’s limited overs performances and the transformation has been startling.

Northamptonshire topped their Twenty20 group and are also challenging strongly for a place in the YB40 semi-finals and for promotion in the County Championship.

Success has brought in the fans. Northamptonshire expect a 6,000 capacity crowd tonight which will include rugby stars from their sporting neighbours Northampton Saints.

White is used to performing on the big stage in international cricket and from his stints in the Indian Premier League but he is also excited to be part of county cricket’s success story.

“The whole club is excited. It’s a big day for the club and I can’t wait for it,” White said. “It’s a few years since we’ve been to Finals Day so if we could get there again it would be a huge event for the club.

“It’s a really good place to be at the moment. We’ve got a happy camp and it’s a good environment in which to play cricket.

“When I came back the boys had just started to win a few games in white ball cricket, that gave them confidence and we’ve taken that into the Twenty20 competition.”

Northamptonshire will be missing opening batsman Richard Levi, who scored a century in their win over Gloucestershire at Cheltenham, for the quarter-final as he has been called up by South Africa A.

Friends Life T20 quarter-finals game zone (Both games live on Sky Sports Ashes)

Surrey v Somerset The Oval (Tuesday, 4.15 pm)

England paceman Chris Tremlett is back in Surrey’s squad after he missed last week’s victory over Essex in their final group match because he was on Test duty at Old Trafford. Seamer Tom Curran, the son of former Gloucestershire and Northamptonshire all-rounder Kevin, could be in contention having taken five wickets in Sunday’s YB40 win over Scotland.

Somerset captain Marcus Trescothick is fit again after recovering from the ankle injury that ruled him out of their last five group matches. South Africa batsman Alviro Petersen returns from international duty.

Northamptonshire v Durham Northampton (Tuesday, 7.10pm)

Northamptonshire have secured the release of Ben Duckett from England Under-19 duty. He replaces Richard Levi who has been called up by South Africa A.

Durham welcome back captain Paul Collingwood, who damaged a thumb in their second group match at Scarborough on June 30. Seamer Graham Onions, who is expected to be included in England’s Test squad for Friday’s Chester-le-Street Test, is also in a 13-man party.